A portrait of Canadian youth

Today's youth are unlike any generation before!

They are more:

• Diverse
• Connected
• Socially Engaged
• Educated

Many youth are reaping the benefits but others face challenges such as...

• finding a full time job
• social exclusion
• cyberbullying
• mental health challenges and addiction
• higher risk of being obese

Also important to think about today's youth within the entire life course.

It is important to remember that today's youth will become Canada's future parents, prime-age workers, and seniors. Their early experiences and vulnerabilities can shape their outcomes later in life.

Canadian youth in numbers

There are 9 million youth across the country, aged 15 to 34

They currently represent – and will continue to represent – about one-quarter of the country's population...compared with well over one-third in the 1970s.

Between 2006 and 2016, the number of youth aged 25 to 34 increased the most. The number of youth aged 15 to 19 declined.

Did you know?

Similar to other countries, Canada's youth represent a smaller share of the population than in the past.

Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 and 2016 Census; Population Projections for Canada, Provinces and Territories.

Youth's share of the population highest in Western Canada and the North

Youth are highly diverse...along many dimensions

In 2016, 27% of youth aged 15 to 34 identified themselves as a member of a visible minority group, compared with 13% in 1996.

Did you know?

Almost 75% of youth have friends from another ethnic group.

In 2016, 76% of youth in Toronto were immigrants (1st generation) or had at least one parent who is an immigrant (2nd generation).

433,880 youth aged 15 to 34 – or 4.8% – report that they have a disability

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Disability, 2012

The number of young Indigenous people is growing

From 2006 to 2016, the number of First Nations, Métis and Inuit youth aged 15 to 34 increased by 39%, compared to just over 6% for non-Indigenous youth.

More youth are living with their parents

In 2016, 35% of young adults, 20 to 34, were living with their parents, up from 31% in 2001. The increase was largest for youth aged 25 to 29.

Youth are more connected than any other generation

• Nearly 100% of youth aged 15 to 24 use the Internet on a daily basis or own their own smartphone – broadly similar across all provinces and across all household income groups.
• More than three quarters of youth aged 15 to 34 use the Internet to follow news and current affairs – more than twice the rate among older Canadians.
• One half of youth aged 25 to 34 conduct transactions on the Internet at least weekly – almost twice that of older Canadians.
• Nearly half of 16 to 24 year olds participate in real-time discussions on the Internet, compared with less than 10% of older Canadians.

But higher technology use also brings new challenges

15% of youth aged 15 to 34 said they were cyberbullied or cyberstalked in the past 5 years

Sources: Statistics Canada, General Social Survey on Canadian at Work and Home, 2016; General Social Survey on Canadians' Safety (Victimization), 2014; General Social Survey on Social Identity, 2013; Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies, 2012

Youth are less likely to vote but are still socially and civically engaged

Giving, volunteering and participating

• 69% of 15 to 24 years olds are members of a group, organization or association, compared with 65% for the overall Canadian population.
• 66% of youth aged 15 to 19 volunteer, as do 42% of youth aged 20 to 34.
• 81% of those aged 25 to 34 said they gave to a charitable or non-profit organization.
• Youth have confidence in public institutions – 50% of youth aged 15 to 24 have confidence in Canadian Parliament, compared with 37% for the general population.

Did you know?

The proportion of young people aged 15 to 34, who stated that they rarely or never followed news and current affairs, almost doubled, from 11% in 2003 to 21% in 2013.

Youth aged 15 to 34 contribute 29% of all volunteer hours in Canada.

Youth participate actively in sports, arts and cultural activities

Youth are more educated than ever

• 97% of 15 year olds attend school
• 5% of 21 year olds enroll in apprenticeship programs
• 24% of 19 year olds in college
• 36% of 21 year olds at university

Did you know?

A large gap in postsecondary enrolment remains between youth from lower and higher income families. Non-financial factors, such as academic performance and parental education, play a significant role.

In 2016, 9% of men and 5% of women aged 25 to 34 had not completed high school, compared to 22% and 19%, respectively, in 1990. In 2011, 31% of Indigenous men and 25% of Indigenous women had not completed high school.

Young men and women continue to enter different types of programs and fields of study

Did you know?

Literacy and numeracy scores are higher among 25 to 34 year olds than any other age group.

Lifetime earnings vary considerably across educational attainment and fields of study

Among youth from the early 1990s, average cumulative earnings through their thirties and forties were over $700,000 higher among men with a bachelor's degree than among men with a high school diploma.

Among women, the difference was $442,000.

These results varied significantly by field of study:

• Men with an engineering degree made over 50% more than men with a degree in the humanities.
• Women in mathematics, physical sciences and business administration made 25% more than women in the social sciences.

Costs of education have increased and many graduates continue to be burdened with debt

• Tuition fees for full-time undergraduate students increased faster than the rate of inflation over the last decade.
• Average tuition fees for full-time Canadian undergraduate students are lowest in Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador and highest in Prince Edward Island and Ontario.
• 50% of youth graduating with a bachelor's degree have student debts, similar to the early 2000s.

Fewer young men in full-time or permanent jobs...resulting in lower earnings at the middle and lower end of the earnings distribution

Did you know?

The percentage of young women employed full-time rose because of their growing labour force participation.

Did you know?

Young men and women at the top of the earnings distribution are faring better than ever.

Did you know?

In contrast to young men, young women have significantly increased their annual hours of work and moved to better-paid occupations, resulting in higher cumulative earnings.

Some of the occupations in which youth are working

Among employed women aged 25 to 34...

• ...about 30% work in professional occupations, such as nurses, teachers and accountants
• ...about 15% work in technical and paraprofessional occupations, such as paralegals and health technicians
• ...about 17% work in administrative occupations, such as office administrators
• ...and about 19% work in personal and customer service occupations, such as food and beverage servers and information services representatives

Among employed men aged 25 to 34...

• ...about 20% work in professional occupations, such as computers and IT professionals, accountants and engineers
• ...about 10% work in technical and paraprofessional occupations, such as computer tech support, firefighters and police officers
• ...about 18% work in industrial and construction occupations, such as electricians, carpenters and mechanics
• ...and about 11% work in personal and customer service occupations, such as cooks and food and beverage servers

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2016

Some groups are more likely to be overqualified than others

Low-income rates among Canadians aged 25 to 34

Did you know?

In 2014, 10.5% of young Canadians aged 25 to 34 and 4.8% of Canadians aged 15 to 24 reported that they had ever temporarily lived with family, friends, in their car, or anywhere else because they had nowhere else to live–a situation referred to as ‘hidden' or ‘concealed' homelessness.

Note: Results are based on the low income measure after tax (LIM-AT)

Homeownership among youth recently declined for the first time in 20 years

• Homeownership among younger adults aged 20 to 34 remained significantly lower than for older Canadians.
• Between 2006 and 2016, homeownership rates across all age groups, except for those aged 65 years old and over declined. This follows several decades of gradual increase. The decline was largest for younger adults, particularly over the past 5 years.
• Coincides with other broader trends such as the rising share of youth who are living with their parents, delays in starting a family, and the increase in housing costs.

One-third of youth with a severe disability say they have been refused a job because of their condition

Youth aged 15 to 24 are more likely to report that they experienced discrimination

Did you know?

In 2016, 16% of young men and 12% of young women reported experiencing at least one aspect of social isolation. Results were broadly similar across all youth and compared with adults aged 35 to 55.

Some young men and women face serious mental health problems

• Rates of mood disorders are highest among youth aged 15 to 24 compared to other age groups; young women in particular have the highest rate (10%)
• Approximately 50% of youth who have experienced mood disorder have also had suicidal thoughts in their lifetime
• Suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth aged 15 to 24
  • 14.7 deaths per 100,000 for young men
  • 5.8 deaths per 100,000 for young women
• Less than half of youth with depression or suicidal thoughts have sought professional support

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey Mental Health, 2012; Vital Statistics, 2014

Indigenous youth are particularly at risk for poor mental health

• 11.0% of off-reserve First Nations and 7.8% of Métis youth report having a mood disorder
• Rates of acute-care hospitalizations for intentional self-harm are high among indigenous youth aged 10 to 19
  • 42 per 100,000 for First Nations youth living on reserve
  • 26 per 100,000 for First Nations youth living off reserve
  • 20 per 100,000 for Métis youth
  • 101 per 100,000 for Inuit youth living in Inuit Nunangat

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey, 2011-2014; Census of Population, 2006; CIHI Discharge Abstract Database, 2006-2009.

High rates of obesity and physical inactivity put youth at risk for heart disease later in life

The share of youth 18-34 who are overweight or obese increased significantly since the late 1970s—from 29% to about 45% in the early 2000s. The share has remained stable over the last decade.

Youth are also not meeting physical activity guidelines—only 1 in 6 are meeting the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week.

Only 25% of young men and 37% of young women (aged 18-34) consume the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

These factors are potentially putting youth at risk of cardiovascular disease later in life.

Based on a new CanHeart Index which measures risk factors for heart disease including diet, weight and physical activity, approximately 1 in 4 youth aged 20-29 rank as having poor heart health.

Sources: Statistics Canada, Canadian Community Health Survey; Canadian Health Measures Survey

Drinking, smoking, and cannabis use by young people have generally declined...but new challenges are emerging

• Smoking rates for both young men and women have dropped significantly since the early 2000s.
• Heavy drinking by young men has also declined, but has increased for young women.
• While cannabis use is still generally higher among youth compared to older Canadians, it has generally decreased for youth.

Today's youth are dealing with the challenges of new drugs and addictions

• Opioid-related hospitalization rates rise fastest among youth.
• Rate of hospital based opioid events increased by 53% over the last decade – most of the increase in the last 3 years (CIHI, 2017).
• Rates of opioid related hospitalizations are up to 7 times higher among Indigenous youth and 5 times higher among lower income households.

Opioid hospitalizations by income

Did you know?

Daily or occasional smoking dropped from over one third of young men aged 18 to 34 in 2003 to about one quarter in 2016. For young women, about 18% reported smoking in 2016 compared to 27% in 2003. Heavy drinking for males aged 20 to 34 was 35% in 2016, down from almost 40% in 2003. Heavy drinking for young women increased from 17% in 2003 to 23% in 2016.

Youth are more likely to commit crimes...but also more likely to be victims of violent crimes

Not the end of the story...let's talk

• Canada's youth continue to be a large and important group within the Canadian population.
• In many ways they are very different from younger generations before them...and from their parents and grandparents today.
• They are more diverse, educated, and connected and socially engaged than past youth, and in many ways are well positioned to succeed in today's complex global society.
• But not all young people are sharing these benefits. Some youth are unemployed or are in temporary jobs. Some are struggling with mental health challenges, addictions, and homelessness. And not everyone feels included.
• Statistics Canada wants to hear from you:
  • Did we get this portrait of Canada's youth right? Are there parts of the story that are missing or more complicated?
  • Contact us to share your thoughts and ideas to help us provide the information needed to make good decisions.